Search results for "Snowmelt"
showing 10 items of 11 documents
Using Optical and Thermal Data for Tracking Snowmelt Processes in Alpine Area
2019
Alpine catchments represent a fundamental reservoir of fresh water at midlatitude. Remote sensing offers the opportunity to estimate snow properties in the optical, thermal and microwave domains. In particular, the possibility to estimate snow density from remote sensing is relevant and still represents a great challenge for the remote sensing scientific community. Since changes of snow density and liquid water content occur continuously in the snowpack, spatial and temporal patterns of optical and thermal data can give information about snowmelt processes. The main goal of this study is to evaluate if snow thermal inertia can be an indicator of snowmelt processes and to evaluate its relati…
Coping with Difficult Weather and Snow Conditions : Reindeer herders’ views on climate change impacts and coping strategies
2016
Winter is a critical season for reindeer herding, with the amount and quality of snow being among the most important factors determining the condition of reindeer and the annual success of the livelihood. Our first aim was to model the future (2035–2064) snow conditions in northern Finland, especially the quantities related to ground ice and/or ice layers within the snow pack, exceptionally deep snow and late snow melt. Secondly, we studied the strategies by which herders cope with the impacts of difficult weather and snow conditions on herding by interviewing 21 herders. SNOWPACK simulations indicate that snow cover formation will be delayed by an average of 19 days and snow will melt 16 d…
Solar and atmospheric forcing on mountain lakes
2016
We investigated the influence of long-term external forcing on aquatic communities in Alpine lakes. Fossil microcrustacean (Cladocera) and macrobenthos (Chironomidae) community variability in four Austrian high-altitude lakes, determined as ultra-sensitive to climate change, were compared against records of air temperature, North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and solar forcing over the past ~400years. Summer temperature variability affected both aquatic invertebrate groups in all study sites. The influence of NAO and solar forcing on aquatic invertebrates was also significant in the lakes except in the less transparent lake known to have remained uniformly cold during the past centuries due to…
Arctic avian predators synchronise their spring migration with the northern progression of snowmelt
2020
AbstractMigratory species display a range of migration patterns between irruptive (facultative) to regular (obligate), as a response to different predictability of resources. In the Arctic, snow directly influences resource availability. The causes and consequences of different migration patterns of migratory species as a response to the snow conditions remains however unexplored. Birds migrating to the Arctic are expected to follow the spring snowmelt to optimise their arrival time and select for snow-free areas to maximise prey encounter en-route. Based on large-scale movement data, we compared the migration patterns of three top predator species of the tundra in relation to the spatio-te…
The Impact of Climate Change on Lakes in Northern Europe
2009
In Northern Europe, most lakes are characterized by extended periods of winter ice cover, high spring inflow from snow melt and brown water produced by the transport of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from the surrounding catchments. In this chapter, the potential impact of climate change on the dynamics of these lakes is addressed by: (i) Describing the historical responses of the lakes to changes in the weather. (ii) Summarizing the results of modelling studies that quantify the impact of future changes in the climate on the lakes and the surrounding catchments. Many existing water quality problems could well be exacerbated by the effects of climatic change. It is therefore important to as…
Estimation of winter leaf area index and sky view fraction for snow modelling in boreal coniferous forests: consequences on snow mass and energy bala…
2012
Abstract in Undetermined Leaf area index (LAI) and canopy coverage are important parameters when modelling snow process in coniferous forests, controlling interception and transmitting radiation. Estimates of LAI and sky view factor show large variability depending on the estimation method used, and it is not clear how this is reflected in the calculated snow processes beneath the canopy. In this study, the winter LAI and sky view fraction were estimated using different optical and biomass-based approximations in several boreal coniferous forest stands in Fennoscandia with different stand density, age and site latitude. The biomass-based estimate of LAI derived from forest inventory data wa…
Introducing Thermal Inertia for Monitoring Snowmelt Processes With Remote Sensing
2019
Thermal inertia has been successfully used in remote sensing applications that span from geology, geomorphology to hydrology. In this paper, we propose the use of thermal inertia for describing snow dynamics. Two different formulations of thermal inertia were tested using experimental and simulated data related to snowpack dynamics. Experimental data were acquired between 2012 and 2017 from an automatic weather station located in the western Italian Alps at 2,160 m. Simulations were obtained using the one‐dimensional multilayer Crocus model. Results provided evidences that snowmelt phases can be recognized, and average snowpack density can be estimated reasonably well from thermal inertia o…
Can a snow structure model estimate snow characteristics relevant to reindeer husbandry?
2014
Snow affects foraging conditions of reindeer e.g. by increasing the energy expenditures for moving and digging work or, in contrast, by making access of arboreal lichen easier. Still the studies concentrating on the role of the snow pack structure on reindeer population dynamics and reindeer management are few. We aim to find out which of the snow characteristics are relevant for reindeer in the northern boreal zone according to the experiences of reindeer herders and is this relevance seen also in reproduction rate of reindeer in this area. We also aim to validate the ability of the snow model SNOWPACK to reliably estimate the relevant snow structure characteristics. We combined meteorolog…
Recent Change—River Run-off and Ice Cover
2015
This chapter compiles and assesses information on run-off and discharge from rivers within the Baltic Sea drainage basin. Some information is also available on ice duration on inland waterways. Although decadal and regional variability is large, no significant long-term change has been detected in total river run-off to the Baltic Sea over the past 500 years. A change in the timing of the spring flood has been observed due to changes in the timing of snowmelt . Change in temperature seems to explain change in run-off better than does precipitation. Later start dates for ice formation on waterways, and earlier ice break-up dates have resulted in shorter periods of ice cover.
Geochemistry of streams from Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island
2013
AbstractIn January and February 2009, a series of water samples were collected from streams on Byers Peninsula. These samples were analysed for major elements and δ18O to determine the role of lithology and landscape position on stream geochemistry, and to understand better the hydrology (i.e. residence time of water) of these systems. Precipitation chemistry is enriched in Na+, as are the streams located close to the coast. Streams originating from inland locations have much higher percentages of Ca2+. In contrast, Mg2+ varied little, though streams that are in greater contact with volcanic-derived soils have slightly higher concentrations. Anion percentages varied greatly between streams …